Next Sunday (12) will mark a new era for Russian fast-food lovers, as the former McDonald’s stores will reopen under new management, more than three decades after the arrival of the western chain in the country.
The relaunch will take place on Russia Day, a patriotic holiday that celebrates the country’s independence, at the same iconic location on Moscow’s Pushkin Square, where McDonald’s opened its first store in Russia in January 1990.
McDonald’s last month announced the sale of its stores in Russia to one of the local franchisees, Alexander Govor.
The deal marked one of Russia’s most important business exits since the country began war with Ukraine on February 24.
McDonald’s iconic golden arches have been removed from stores in Moscow and St. The reopening will take place at 15 locations in and around Moscow.
The name of the new network remains a closely guarded secret. A change in the name of the McDonald’s app on Friday to ‘My Burger’ generated some excitement online, but the chain’s press team said this was only temporary, RBC Daily reported.
Remarkable date
Govor said he plans to expand the new brand to 1,000 stores across the country and reopen all outlets within two months.
“Opening day is important because it is the first time that consumers will be able to really feel, touch and see the brand and what it stands for,” he said.
“It matters what the reaction is and obviously people will compare it to McDonald’s.”
McDonald’s owned 84% of the chain’s nearly 850 stores across Russia and took a loss of up to $1.4 billion after the decision to leave the country and sell the assets to Govor, whose Russian company GiD already ran 25 of them.
Last year, McDonald’s generated about 9%, or $2 billion, of its revenue in Russia and Ukraine. McDonald’s has the right to buy back stores in Russia within 15 years. Many terms of the sale to Govor are still under wraps.
Russian news agency TASS said on Wednesday that McDonald’s will remain open as usual at airports and train stations in Moscow and St Petersburg until 2023, citing a source close to Rosinter Restaurants, another franchisee.
Source: CNN Brasil
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